You don't need hands to be right- or left-handed. Many kinds of animals have shown a preference for using one side of their body or the other. They include apes, whales, dogs, cats, cows, toads, fish and even honeybees. Now, with data from a rather...

You probably see a cylinder when you look at the illusion above. But how our brains translate two intersecting sheets of moving dots into a 3D image reveals telling differences in visual perception that could perhaps help diagnose autism spectrum d...

If your parents ever warned you that your childhood behavior would kill your brain cells, you may want to call them and say thank you. New research in the journal Nature finds that our brain cells may not regenerate as far into our adulthood — or e...

Returning sight to those for whom it's slipped away has been a goal of scientists for decades. But repairing or replacing the delicate internal machinery of the human eye has proven difficult so far. A few experimental devices have managed to grant...

Is it better to be lucky or good? Well, it's a trick question — you actually need both if you want to be successful.
In an admittedly simplistic model, researchers from Italy's University of Catania, looked at whether talented individuals or those...

In a 1973 study, scientists at the University of Chicago fitted cocaine-dependent rhesus monkeys with stainless steel catheter harnesses, allowing them to self-administer PCP to until they were “highly intoxicated.”
This type of research isn’t exa...

EVEN MORE IRONIC UPDATE, 3/2/18: Despite what Aner Tal told me below, other researchers have tried to replicate this study—and failed. Thanks to those of you who pointed it out to me on Twitter. The 2014 post will be updated to reflect this.
Earli...

By now, it's pretty clear that psilocybin, the active compound in "magic mushrooms" has a potent effect on human beings. But psychedelic visions obviously weren't the evolutionary force that caused some fungi to make the compound — it's an unforese...

A new Lancet paper about antidepressants caused quite a stir this week. Headlines proclaimed that "It's official - antidepressants work", "Study proves anti-depressants are effective", and "Antidepressants work. Period."
Wew.
The truth is that wh...

We're no better than monkeys when it comes to advertising. Or, perhaps it's better said that they're no better than us.
In a clever study, researchers showed rhesus macaques brand logos (which were just random images to them) paired with a picture...

On January 24, University of British Columbia geneticist Dave Ng tweeted, "It's always interesting to me how kids react when they find out I'm a scientist who also does artistic things (like they can't co-exist or something). Would love to start a ...